


Missing

by wanttoflyhigh



Category: Tales of Phantasia
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Attempted Kidnapping, Bullying, Comedy, Drama, F/F, F/M, Fantasy, Fluff, Intrigue, Love at First Sight, M/M, Magic, Major Character Injury, Multi, Mystery, Romance, Workplace
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-25
Updated: 2015-12-26
Packaged: 2018-04-01 02:56:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,031
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4003210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wanttoflyhigh/pseuds/wanttoflyhigh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A classic tale of in which two people meet and fall in love... right? There couldn't be anything that goes wrong, no, not at all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Meeting

**Author's Note:**

> This is not supposed to be a thing but I suppose my hands got to typing and here we are...

A man with long blond hair and glasses looked over a few bits of numbers in front of him, which he usually would for about a long while. He didn’t expect anything new to change in his life that happened to be particularly exciting, especially since the only co-workers he could stand to be around were all coincidentally leaving. Less reason to get involved with the unsurprising clamor around the new hires. Or at least as much he could get away with being involved, except that a certain woman with blond hair came to his side, asking, “Dhaos, aren’t you going to greet any of the new people? Or at least look to know who has arrived?”

 

Dhaos frowned slightly, and looked up at a good friend of his, who went by the name Winona Pickford. He didn’t really want to argue with her though, so he reluctantly got up, noticing her smile afterwards, and deciding it couldn’t be too bad. He heads over to the gathering, and shyly peers over, to notice it’s definitely a good many of young faces, which isn’t surprising to him either. Then he’s about to turn away when he hears the sound of someone’s footsteps approaching rapidly and a shout, “I’M NOT LATE YET!”

 

He turns his head and a short blond-haired male runs straight into him, causing them both to trip and bump into other people standing nearby him, sending others down like dominos. Dhaos, annoyed, said, “You may not be late but...”

 

The taller blond paused because he saw the blond-haired young male look up at him with those brown eyes of his and suddenly he couldn’t say anything for a moment. Quickly he grabbed his wits about him and finished, “... it seems you are heedless of whatever misfortune you may cause due to you not looking where you’re going.”

 

The blond immediately got up and grinned sheepishly. “Maybe just a little?”

 

Dhaos frowned at him, saying, “That’s not something to be--”

 

A certain green-haired man took the moment to cut-in, saying, “Now, now, don’t be so rude to one of your new co-workers, Dhaos. We’ve spoken about this before, haven’t we?”

 

The taller blond uprighted himself and just to prove the other man wrong he helped the new office worker up as well, sending a glare to the green-haired man, who returned it with a unfriendly smile. The small blond sweatdropped. “Uh...hello? I’m Cless Alvein and er, I’m going to be an editor at Phantasia Works, so... um.”

 

Winona came by and put a hand on his shoulder. “I’ll show you around, don’t worry, Arsia will break them up soon.”

 

True to form, another woman came in, looking unimpressed, saying, “Alright. Break it up you two. Even if you’re not fighting I can sense another ridiculous war game of chess coming from a mile away.”

 

Dhaos moved on from that point, deciding it wasn’t worth wasting his effort in an attempt to embarrass Reisen in front of these new people. The new boy seemed to be as childish as Dio, which was probably a premature judgment, but he wasn’t exactly as optimistic as he used to be. He frowned a little at the thought, though, and thinking about it all again that he was indeed being too harsh. Perhaps he should try to be more friendly... if they ever interact again.

 

Fate would have it that later that day, he did indeed interact with this ‘Cless’ who came with some papers, putting them in front of his desk. “Miss Pickford said I should put these here so you and Klarth can look over them. Or at least that’s how it’s going to be for a few days. You guys checking my work... and well, I didn’t mean to make you so upset.”

 

Dhaos tried to think of something to say, but he just sat there instead, picking up the papers and nodded gingerly as he looked through them quickly while Cless awkwardly stood there. Then, Cless smiled at him and said, “You know, maybe we should hang out sometime.”

The surprise of him saying something so upfront made Dhaos nearly drop the papers, thinking he misheard. “What?”

 

Cless rubbed the back of his head, saying, “I said, maybe we should hang out sometime. I mean, maybe after work. Get to know each other a little more. The others are doing it. So, how about you and me...”

 

It was a sound plan. Dhaos figured he could glean more from what other qualities he may have if he did ‘hang out’ with him, but... there was an issue. When it came to things like these, his social skills seemed to not want to work out pretty well. But he wasn’t going to let it pass it by. “S...so. So, when I’m finished with these, I shall pass them to you to hand them into the Head Editor’s inbox, and let you know if you have missed any mistakes that need any correcting.”

 

The smaller blond seemed to sigh, and the taller blond cleared his throat, furrowing his eyebrows. “However, for that other matter, I...”

 

Reisen cut in with a smile, saying, “--But he’s busy. I know someone else who is free. Want to go see who they are?”

 

“Oh sure, thanks! See you around, Dhaos.”

 

A man, with silver-blue hair as well as dark skin, looked over at Dhaos who just seemed to have fallen into a pregnant silence, but he kind of knew better, given the nonplussed expression upon his face. In an adjacent room, a glass cup exploded. Then, the blond-haired man stood up, saying in a deceptively calm voice, “I believe I’ve finished up work today. If anyone asks for me you can take care of it.”

 

...

 

Dhaos returned home, just in time, too, because the bus had just dropped off Dio and Mel. Although this meant that the kids ran in and practically did a thing of clinging to him tightly, making it impossible for him to tear away to have his private time. But all the same it served as a distraction. As the two young children were hanging off of him, his cellphone went on, showing that it was Edward Morrison. The guy who only called when he needed him for something.

 

After about ten times of him ringing, Dhaos shut off his cellphone out of annoyance, and put on Cardcaptors, telling them both to watch some cartoons so he can have some space. In the meantime he can focus on writing that book, which he would call ‘Untold Story’, an unusual fantasy story where the hero falls in love with the villain. Although, if he were being honest, it was an entirely unintentional development...really. His mind feels like being uncooperative, however, as his thoughts begin to stray to the one he’s met today, and imagining various, calculated scenarios to forge a friendship with him.

 

Before Reisen can ruin everything. _AGAIN_.

 

As it got later he put the children to bed, before returning to work on his side-hobby, and then finding that he fell asleep at the computer, until it was time to drive the children to school. Both of them whined as usual about wanting to stay home or wanting to play with him but he managed to get them to behave with a few stern, but kind words. Then, he came to work, and the atmosphere shift was already able for him to feel it. Especially when Dhaos passed by the newcomers.

 

 _Another of Reisen’s petty manipulative nonsense, I imagine_ , was the grumpy thought that assaulted his mind at the feel.of some people just staring at him. The old guard had mostly left, however, besides his fellow Accountant, Klarth, and then there was Edward. Unfortunately Winona had left for a better paying job, although she had instructed him a myriad of times the days before to contact her if anything happened. Especially since those above them weren’t very responsible for regulating some of the co-workers’ behavior.

 

Although that was easier said than done, considering Reisen was in bed with the vice-president. Metaphorically speaking.

 

He finds himself working on some more important documents, until a certain blond haired young male pops his face into his view, piping in, “Hi!”

 

Dhaos gasped and frowned at Cless who grinned sheepishly at him. “This is highly unprofessional.”

 

The blond blinked and said, “I was told it was allowed and that ‘you liked surprises’.”

 

The taller blond scoffed and replied as Cless leaned back before shifting to give Dhaos more room, “People say a lot of things. Most of which are not true. Go back to work.”

 

Cless raised an eyebrow. “Okay mister professional. Buuut did you know it’s break time?”

 

“... Ah.”

 

...

 

Dhaos was surprised when the blond went to sit next to him and his mind went back to yesterday. He could try making the offer himself since Cless did last time-- it’d only be fair since Reisen sort of botched up yesterday. The taller blond’s usual seat was in the office recreation room for the senior members but he could bend the rules a little, just to wind up not being by himself when he wasn’t feeling too good. Cless offered him a smile, and their shoulders sort of brushed when he moved a bit.

 

The taller blond looked to the side, wondering why he felt just a bit awkward, before he feels a poke, making his attention draw back to Cless, who asked, “Are you feeling alright? You look kind of sad. Plus you didn’t bring any food...”

 

Dhaos lapsed into a purposeful silence so he didn’t have to explain any of that whatsoever. He didn’t even want to say ‘he left home, forgetting to bring something to eat’ because that was a bit embarrassing. Cless didn’t seem ready to give up, however, and pulled on his sleeve when Dhaos had looked away again. He had a brilliant red lunchbox and opened it up, which had some rice, eggs, as well as spinach. “Eat some with me?”

 

For some reason the blond felt just a little bit hungry when he heard Cless ask, who lent him another plastic fork. He didn’t think that it was too strange, as it seemed he at least had another person who wanted to be overly friendly with him besides Edward (in a bad way) and Winona (who was a good friend already).

 

He managed to ask Cless, “Do you...feel like you must be here with me?”

 

Cless blinked and said, “Well, isn’t that how getting to know people works? You can’t just ignore them forever or not talk to them at all otherwise you’ll never find out who they are.”

“...”

 

Then the blond said, his cheeks reddening a bit, “And maybe it’s a little selfish, but I kind of want to see you smile someday. You don’t have to do it, I mean, but if I could see it, that’d be nice. Uh, that might’ve been a bit forward of me, sorry about that.”

 

Dhaos didn’t know who to even respond, and just sat there in stunned silence. His face felt like a summertime burn, however.

 

...

 

The blond-haired male finished his work early, so instead of punching in numbers, the severe man stared out into space. His mind went to thoughts of Cless, who seemed to simple and upfront about everything. He also seemed like the type to blurt out things without thinking... it was adorable. Apparently, the look on his face must have attracted the surprise of his co-worker, because Klarth had decided to ask, “Hey, what’s on your mind? You look actually pretty relaxed for once and I doubt it’s getting work done already, because you finish early most of the time.”

 

Dhaos blinked and looked over at him, before the man’s expression turned into a knowing one, making the blond brace himself for what he was about to hear. “...You’re thinking of a girl, aren’t you?”

 

The blond sighed. “I...am not thinking about anyone in particular.”

 

Klarth nudged him with a smile, “Sure you’re not. You’re a bad liar, you know.”

 

Dhaos snipped at him, feeling slightly embarrassed, “You can be quiet with it now,”

 

Then, a certain voice spoke up in a question, “So, Dhaos likes someone, hm? Might as well let everyone know. Who is it? One of the new girls?”

 

Klarth said, unimpressed, “Hey, this is a strict talk between two responsible, older men, Reisen. Go bug someone else.”

 

The Secretary snorted and walked off with a folder of files, making Klarth offer Dhaos a thumbs up, who just blinked before nodding at him.

 

Later on, when Dhaos went to leave, he noticed Cless was leaving as well, and the blond seemed to notice too, so they both started towards each other. Cless smiled and asked, “Do you have a cellphone?”

 

The taller blond got out a sort of sizeable yellow cell. “...Yes, I do.”

 

Cless pouted a bit, muttering, “Even that’s bigger than mine...everything about you is bigger than me, I swear.”

 

“Hm?”

 

“Ah, no, it’s nothing, here my number is... 3-781-777-7277. What’s yours?”

 

Dhaos informed him and then Cless showed him the contact made. The name he had for him was ‘Douse’. He squinted at Cless, who smiled at him sheepishly, and he squinted harder, which caused him to grin sheepishly. Dhaos sighed.

 

Cless asked, looking up at him brightly, “Maybe you should put in watercress for me, right?”

 

“No.”

 

“Is it because you don’t want the idea to become rooted in your head?”

 

“.........”

 

“Or maybe because you don’t want to douse me with water all the time to help me grow.”

 

Dhaos stared at Cless, not knowing what to say or if he didn’t say anything if that meant Cless would fire off another joke. “You are...”

 

Cless cut-in with a grin, “...clever?”

 

The taller blond snorted and Cless seemed to brighten up even more at making him laugh. The two of them begin to head downstairs, before Dhaos parted ways with him. He heard his cellphone beep and looked at a message from Winona that said, _How did it go today? Do I need to slap someone around or strangle Reisen in his sleep?_

 

Dhaos smirked and sent a reply that said, _I’d rather you not be convicted of manslaughter, and it did, in fact, go well. Perhaps even better than that._

 

He looked at the next message from her that said, _Ooooh! :) Getting along with the new guy?_

 

Dhaos felt himself almost smile because yes he was.

 

His new life sure had some awful bumps, but he was happy with the way it was now.

 

...

 

The blond-haired male was sitting on the couch with his hair tied up into a pony tail so it wouldn’t get in his face. The children had gotten him to watch some cartoon about crystals, and then Mel asks with a smile, “Dad, did you meet someone nice today? You’ve been smiiiiiling all day long!”

 

Dio then said with a grin, “Maybe it’s ‘cuz he likes someone!”

 

Dhaos shook his head. “...Focus on the television, both of you. Otherwise you will miss it.”

 

Both of them whined, “But daaaaaaaaad!”

 

...

 

The next day, Dhaos found himself at work 10 minutes early than he usually is, and he tries not to think it’s because he wants to say hello (or try to) to a certain someone, but there is this annoying giddy feeling in his chest that shouldn’t be there. He looks at the schedule and apparently the boy’s had an early shift so he should be here--

 

He pauses in the thought and wonders if it’s professional at all to be thinking so much about him, before he sits down. He gets to work, when Klarth asked, “.. do you ever get distracted?”

 

Dhaos said plainly, “Yes.”

 

The white-haired man seemed interested and asked, “When’s that?”

 

The blond said frankly, “Right now, because you’re distracting me.”

 

“Oh come on.”

 

...

 

All day was not very eventful and usually that’s how Dhaos likes it. However, it seemed that he wasn’t able to even so much as meet the other blond, and at the time he didn’t think too much of it. Perhaps he had either gotten caught up in some work or that their breaks didn’t coincide, with that in mind maybe he should inquire about that being a thing. Of course, that sounded a bit odd, maybe...but not really, right? If he was trying to be friendly, that is.

 

He then realized he had been standing near the water for about a few more minutes than he intended, thinking about this and sighed. Maybe he should ask Winona for advice. At the thought, he heard it began to spontaneously thunder and rain pound against the windows, even as he headed back to his desk.

 

As he was leaving later on, he found that he meets with the younger blond once more, but the moment is more brief than he wishes it would be. The blond had ducked his head as he passed him, holding some papers and folders that looked like they would swallow him if he weren’t careful. He muttered a, “Sorry.”

 

Dhaos blinked and looked down at his cellphone before looking at Cless’ retreating back. He could have said something, even offering to help, since it was raining. He quickly tried to kick his butt into gear, and followed afterwards, finding that the blond was standing outside without an umbrella. He started with, “Cless...”

 

                                                                             

 

What he didn’t expect was Cless to immediately run off, causing him to stand there disappointed, in the rain, and wondering if he had done something wrong. Dhaos thought about calling him and asking him but maybe that might not be such a good idea. So, instead he just decided to head to his car, not even thinking much about himself being soaked. He went through the motions of having to take care of his children easily enough before settling in bed.

 

It was probably nothing at all.

 

When the next few weeks passed and the situation didn’t change... after work, he found himself in front of Reisen, frowning. He asked him, “What did you do?”

 

The green-haired man shrugged and replied, “I have nothing to do with this. Looks like your little friendship with the new guy came to a halt. It happens all the time.”

 

Dhaos never liked to think of himself as a overly violent person, or a violent person at all, but there are is a special place in hell for this man and some days his mind just goes blank before he does all he can to not break Reisen’s nose. Once he finds a job that pays as well as this one, however, he will be out of here faster than anyone can even think.

 

Plus, there was another reason he needed to calm down.

 

A co-worker with dual-colored hair suddenly shouted, “Guys one of the copiers suddenly had a meltdown again!”

 

Someone went, “Again?? What? Is that a common thing going on here?”

 

That someone happened to be Cless and that made Dhaos practically whip around at the sound of his voice. This meant that Cless’ eyes met his. Both of them quickly diverted their eyes, and Klarth rolled his in the background, muttering, “Some people still act like it’s Victorian Era romance, huh?”

 

Luckily, no one heard him, but Cless quickly bid himself good bye while Dhaos followed suit. When Dhaos rounded a corner, however, he found that Cless had been making a quick return -- but too quick for them to move out of the way. Thus the both of them collided into each other, with Dhaos landing backwards and Cless right on top. But that wasn’t the only thing...seeing as somehow for the briefest of moments their lips somehow met together.

 

Both of them froze and quickly Cless go up to his feet, red in the face, shouting, “I-I...DIDN’T MEAN TO DO THAT!! REALLY!”

 

Then he was out of there. Dhaos blinked as he rose to his feet, and felt his face flush as well, because of how much attention Cless likely brought to them unintentionally.

 

Dhaos then found himself within a fashion store that also sold flowers, and before he realized it he stood before a flower booth. A pink-haired lady smiled up at him and asked, “Looking for the perfect flowers for your partner? I have red roses that would be by any other name just as sweet for any woman, the violets for a mysterious, yet empowering individual, or maybe the very same red roses for a passionate young man whose fire burns deep down where you want it!”

 

Dhaos did a double-take, face flushing at the latter. “... What?”

 

The pink haired girl waggled her eyebrows.. “You know what I mean. Perfect for enticing him into bed!”

 

“.........”

 

Why did he come in here again? He didn’t really have a reason to in the first place, but yet, there was a part of him that maybe just wanted to show Cless he was interest--

 

He quickly banishes the thought to the recesses of his mind because of how utterly ridiculous that would be. He’s also very disappointed in himself for thinking of such a thing, and frowns, before turning around.

 

“Or maybe, you want something a little more romantic and that wouldn’t wilt at the drop of a hat.”

 

Dhaos turns his head to find her raising a bouquet of peonies at him as she said, “These flowers are also said to survive up to 100 years. Great, huh?”

 

Then he’s buying them and he hears the wind chime from the door, making him look over. It just so happens to be Cless, so he quickly puts his hands behind his back so he doesn’t see the flowers. The blond comes over, rubbing his forehead and then looks up, before to the side immediately, noticing him. “Dhaos? What are you doing here?”

 

Dhaos said, trying to sound somewhat casual and likely failing, “... No reason, in particular.”

Cless raised an eyebrow as he looked over, but it was the truth. Sort of. “Why are you hiding your hands behind your back?”

 

Dhaos shrugged and then proceeded to try to move without revealing what he’d bought, probably making him look utterly silly, but small sacrifices were needed to prevent any sort of misunderstandings. He curses the fact that this just so happens to be the time where the younger blond is staring at him the whole entire time too.

 

Luckily, he makes it out of there without incident and heads home. His children are all googly-eyed when they come home to see his flowers and he keeps needing to guide Dio away from it because he is attempting to steal the petals. Mel asks, “Who is it for?”

 

Dhaos said simply, “... Just a friend.”

 

She then gave him a smile and she said, “He must be a very precious friend.”

 

“...Perhaps, but I do not know about that yet. Now, it’s time for you and your brother to work on your homework.”

 

Then, later, as scheduled, Winona comes over to visit, and she of course asks, “What made you get those flowers?”

 

Dhaos blinks and looks out a window, saying, “...I’m not too sure. A whim, mayhaps.”

 

Winona said, taking a seat, “They’ll look nice around the house, I think. Add a little more color, you know?”

 

The taller blond couldn’t help but allowing a smirk and trying to hide the expression, feeling glad that there was someone who didn’t jump to conclusions. Because well, he was pretty sure it would add a little more color to--

 

He banishes the thought to the back of his mind where the other thought belonged, because of him not wanting to think of the subject being a thing despite what he’d done today. “... Perhaps. But, how does your new job fare you?”

 

The blond-haired woman smiled a bit and said, “Well, it goes just fine. The only problem is some pushy person with white hair who also just joined, but hey, I’m practically vice-president so you could always come work over at the fashion & flower store. I’d nudge someone to give you a good position.”

 

Dhaos blinks and looks at her before asking, “A position that pays as well as this one?”

 

Winona gave him a smile and a thumbs up, replying, “I’ll wring some necks to make it happen. Sounds great, right? Even if it’s you planting flowers. Could you deal with that?”

 

The blond-haired man blinks and replies, “... I could.”

 

The woman then said, “It sounds like there’s a but in there. Are you thinking of something? Or someone holding you back that I need to kick their butt in if they’re blackmailing you again and HR is being useless?”

 

Dhaos sighed and then said, “No, it’s not that. It is just, there is someone I have been having trouble with since Reisen is sticking his nose into my business again. And I...”

 

He paused and then closed his eyes. Then he opened them and Winona offered him a smile, saying, “I’ll take care of Reisen. You speak to Cless. That’s the person, right?”

 

The taller man didn’t know what to say and hoped to god that he wasn’t blushing. When it seemed he wasn’t, he just nodded. Then he realized he would actually have to try to initiate the contact with Cless on his own...somehow, and at this thought he looked down at his cellphone. She asked, “You have his number?”

 

Dhaos nodded again, and then attempted to contact him by sending him a text message. Winona was giving him a look. But, he didn’t understand why, so he just stared back. “.....”

 

She then sighed and said, “He won’t respond unless you corner him in real life, you know. If it’s Reisen we’re talking about and the relationship hasn’t been too great...”

 

The taller blond sighed. “I see... so much trouble.”

 

“Don’t give up, okay?”

 

“...”

 

“Now let’s play something that you won’t beat my butt in. You’ll have a hard time beating my butt in video games or card games, right?”

 

...

 

The next time Dhaos caught him, it was time for break and he noticed that theirs seemed to coincide. So, it was now or never, especially when the blond had gone to move onto the top of the building to have lunch. He also quietly wondered if Cless was always this oblivious to the things that were happening around him, because he managed to make it to the top with him before the younger blond noticed. “Where did you even come from?!”

 

Dhaos blinked and replied, “From behind you.”

 

Cless’ face turned red and he scrunched up his face before sighing. “What? I already know how you feel about me, so... why are you even bothering?”

 

The taller blond frowned, and asked, “What do you mean you know how I feel about you?”

 

Cless looked down and muttered, “That you hate people who are like me. I was told that by a few of your co-workers.”

 

Dhaos watched the smaller blond closely and replied, “It is your choice whether to believe them or not. However, I’d like to think I’m more than what other people say of me. It may seem more like the truth if more than one individual tells you, but there are times that even if people tell you it is supposedly a completely proven scientific fact... without double-checking yourself it may as well be a lie. I had informed you beforehand about this.”

 

For awhile both of them stood across from each other before Cless sat down and didn’t say a further word. There was an awkward silence and the young blond didn’t even touch his food, making Dhaos sigh and approach him. He said, “It’d be a shame if it went to waste.”

 

Cless looked down at the lunchbox and said, looking embarrassed, “I can’t eat if someone isn’t eating with me.”

 

The taller man blinked and before he knew it, he was being offered to eat with him again. Somehow the remembrance of such a thing was making the both of them try not to smile, but fail a bit. Even though it was still quiet and relatively still awkward between the both of them... up until they went back downstairs.

 

In the hallway, the younger male had began to say, “I...I’m sorry... about earlier.”

 

Dhaos stopped walking and turned to face him. “It’s fine.”

 

Then, Cless reached for his hand, and he allowed him to take it.

 

...

 

When they both got off from work, Cless asked, “Would you like to hang out today? I mean since it’s on such short notice, maybe not today, or...maybe Saturday? Ah no, wait, maybe--”

 

Dhaos then replied, “Tuesday morning should do. If... you have that day off, that is.”

 

Cless brightened up and exclaimed, “Now I do!!”

 

“...... Cless.”

 

The younger blond was given a slightly disapproving look and Cless just stuck his tongue out as he asked, “What are you, my girlfriend?”

 

Dhaos just wound up sighing. “If you’re going to be so reckless and immature without even knowing such a thing is a confirmed day off for you or no...then perhaps it should be done at another time.

 

Not to mention, th--”

 

The rest of his sentence was caught off when Cless had just kissed him, making him freeze, and a shock went through him at the boldness of it all. His mind still was catching up when Cless smiled a bit, blushing and said, “Alright, let’s see each other on Tuesday!”

 

When Dhaos said, “... Alright,” and the other blond was off, he just realized what he agreed to before frowning. He flipped upon his cellphone and sent a few texts that amounted to at least five paragraphs of reproaching Cless for him being irresponsible. That being said, he decided it was time to send in his two weeks, and headed back into the office to do just that. So he fired another text off to Cless about him leaving their job, before receiving a sudden call from him.

 

He heard the blond ask loudly, “Where are you going?! I’ll apply there too!”

 

Dhaos smiled a little, and imagined them working together in a better environment, only for a certain green-haired man to approach him. He would do anything to avoid him so he said, “Move,” and he just walked by him, making the man look angry as well as offended.

 

Dhaos replied, “It’s the fashion and flower store across from us. It’s called ‘Phantastic Flowers & Fashion’.”

 

He wasn’t surprised to hear Cless laugh at the name, because it was kind of silly but, if it was a place with none of this baggage it’d be good enough for him. Then the blond listened to Cless talk for a bit, up until he got into the car to get home in time for the kids.

 

When the next work day came, Dhaos couldn’t help but think about the two of them meeting off work despite the bits of grief he gave to Cless. For once he could hardly focus on his work and could feel Klarth’s grinning at him. He shifted a bit and said, annoyed, “...You can stop staring at me like you won the lottery.”

 

Klarth sighed and said, looking at him, “If only I had.”

 

“......”

 

The blond accountant shook his head, until he found himself being called into the ‘big boss’’ room, resisting the urge to roll his eyes when some of his co-workers did a collective ‘oooooooh’. If Cless was included he’d have to talk to him about it later, and then he was in the room, where the man with stark black hair began to talk about something important he imagined. Usually, Dhaos was very focused and his attention was easy to capture, however, whenever the boss spoke, it was literally the most boring thing. He was even tempted to text Winona during his speech about the ‘good of the company’, because of how bad of a boss he was.

 

Dhaos sent a text when the boss had turned around. It read, _Can you make an educated guess as to where I am now, and a calculated guess where I will not be in two weeks?_

 

Winona replied with, _Really now? You’re texting me while you’re at work? Have you gone to the dark side now? Is it because of the cookies? :P_

 

The blond smirked and then his boss turned around to face him as Dhaos stealthily hid his phone. He yelled at him, asking, “What’s so funny?! Did you hear what I just said?!”

 

Dhaos blinked and said, looking unimpressed, “I was sitting here and you were talking. How could I not have? That said, what was your point if all you were going to do was talk about how good this wretched company is and not about the lack of follow up your asinine workers in the HR department have when real complaints are filed? Or how about the fact was this speech is apparently made to intimidate me to stay?”

 

The man, with black hair frowned and said, “If you won’t stay, then I can simply make it impossible for other places to hire you.”

 

Dhaos stood up, then took a breath, before he released it. The large plexiglass window behind the other man shattered into pieces, and he stared at the man he was apologizing, pleading for him not to kill him. The blond said, red eyes narrowing, “I’ll never hear of you again. Do you understand? If you try to strongarm myself again, and that includes any of your ... people, then maybe you will someday enjoy looking down from a building, but instead of inside it you will be on the outside.”

 

Then he moved out of the room of the guy cowering still underneath his desk, ignoring a few people before making a beeline for Cless. He said to him, “We’re leaving, now. I’ve overstayed my welcome and I don’t want you in this place either.”

 

Cless stood up and asked, “Uh, sure, but what happened?”

 

Dhaos said, as they both moved to leave, “The boss was incompetent and made a fool out of himself.”

 

Klarth then got up saying, “Welp, I guess I quit. See you guys later.”

 

Edward also said, “Yep me too.”

 

The rest of the people working there couldn’t believe what they were seeing and some of them tried to stop them but ultimately failed.

 

...

 

When Tuesday rolled around, there was a stream of clothes on the floor in his usually impeccable room and Winona smiled, saying, “You look really good! Tight pants make it easy on the easy along with that no-sleeved turtle-neck for fashion points.”

 

Dhaos looked a bit awkward, as he stood with his arms crossed, wearing a yellow no-sleeved turtle-neck, black leather pants, and black boots. He was also wearing two golden bracelets and had even put in his earrings -- he was unsure as to how this was supposedly going to make himself look mildly presentable however. He actually did want to wear the jewelry, even though he hadn’t since a long time ago...not since he was in a different place than he was now.

 

He frowned a bit and said, “... But maybe this is going over the top--”

 

Winona shook her head, saying, “This is the kind of thing I’d catch myself wearing! I’m sure he’d like it and think you’ll look very cute! Besides, you said that about the other 30 pieces of clothing and I swear to god if you don’t pick one I’ll somehow magic you out here in something before you can say ‘pizza’.”

 

“....... Pizza.”

 

...

 

Dhaos grabbed the flowers and quietly thanked Winona for watching the children in the meantime. He made it to about half-way down the sidewalk before sliding into his car and driving towards the directions with his GPS. However, with his luck, it took him 2 hours to reach Cless’ house due to unforeseen detours.

 

Grumbling as he got out of the car, he found himself tackled before he could even fully come out, his arm hitting the car door a bit. “You couldn’t have waited?”

 

Cless pulled away, grinning sheepishly. “Oops?”

 

Said smaller blond was in a red trench coat with a black shirt and dark red pants...with sandals.

 

Then he looked at Dhaos arm closely and asked, “Are you okay? Did I hurt you?”

 

Dhaos blinked and said, “I’ll be alright...”

 

Then he reached in to pull out the flowers, smiling a bit when he saw Cless’ face that lit up like the morning sun. The blond instantly enveloped him in another hug, before Dhaos hugged him back with one arm. The blond even happily rubbed his face against him, which he all assumed to mean that this was a good thing.

 

Then, he was brought within his house, which seemed to have three floors. Which all begged the question as he asked, “...Do you live with someone else?”

Cless smiled at him and said, “Yeah, I live with a few other people. Chester, Mint, and Arche! We all get along very well.”

 

A blue-haired male just emerged from the bathroom with just a towel, shouting, “Alright, who hid my clothes?! Arche I swear to fucking god if it was you again...!”

 

Then he turned his attention over to the other two men before blushing and quickly dashing upstairs. Dhaos blinked slowly, and looked at Cless who was grinning, then he looked back upstairs. Soon, two women came down, conversing, and he recognized the one with pink hair, who was saying, “...And then I hid his clothes in Cless’ drawer. All of the clothes, ALL of them!”

 

Cless put his hands on his hips, saying, “Arche, really? Why did you go and do that?”

 

Arche, the pink-haired one pouted and replied, “Because he hid my Super Play Magazines. All of them! No one touches them-- er. Oh. Hi there...well this is awkward.”

 

Cless blushed and said, “It’s not like this all the time, I swear.”

 

The other woman was blushing too and said, “Ah, hello there, you must be an acquaintance of Cless’? I’m sorry you had to walk in to see this. But, I’m Mint, Mint Adenade, it’s nice to meet you.”

 

Dhaos nodded and took the hand she outreached to him. “...Dhaos.”

 

Arche grinned, “But I guess this means you two are gonna--”

 

Cless suddenly shouted, “--ANYWAY! Let me show you my room, because, well, why not? And I don’t want you to see anymore half-naked people running around.”

 

Soon, the two of them were in Cless’ room as he was quickly getting out all of Chester’s clothing and shaking his head. “She really did do it...”

 

Dhaos watched the blond’s back before he stepped closer to Cless and he moved forward to wrap him in a surprise embrace, that made the smaller one laugh and squirm against him. “Dhaos I won’t be able to get all of the clothing out.”

 

“Hmmm... What a dilemma that presents, am I  correct?”

 

Cless quickly turned around in his embrace and made a mock-pout face. He asked, “How do I escape the grip of the Evil Overlord Dhaos?”

 

Dhaos just smirked at him, and for some reason Cless couldn’t help but blush at that look he gave him. He then had an idea but ended up accidentally tripping Dhaos instead and thus landing on top of him. Cless looked down at the blond beneath him, and decided to sort of just, run his hands all over the older man’s body, making him tremble a bit. The smaller blond asked, “Dhaos?”

 

The door bust open with Chester standing there, saying, “Cless! I need my clothes right now-- oh. What the hell?!”

 

The blue-haired man quickly shut the door and whispered to himself, flushing, “Should’ve knocked.”

 

Quickly the two of them got up and Cless grabbed some of Chester’s clothing before handing them off to him. Chester glared at Dhaos and said, “I swear if you break his heart I’ll break you. Also, make sure that when you’re doing the diddle--”

 

Cless shouted, face red,”CHESTER, PLEASE! You’re embarrassing me, come oooon!”

 

Dhaos sent a glare at Chester in return, before they both quickly headed outside. Arche laughed her ass off until a full clothed Chester ruffled her hair after picking her up and she said, “Hey, rude! Let’s go after them, quick! Put me down already!”

 

...

 

The two of them spent a mostly quiet afternoon together, Cless opting for them to take a walk and towards the more grassy part of town, because luckily they just happened to live more or less towards more flora than other places. The blond’s idea of a ‘hangout’ included running around in the nearby woodsy area, while Dhaos calmly caught up to him. At some point, Dhaos found that the blond seemed to completely go out of his sight and he furrowed his brows.

 

A bundle of a certain blond haired male in red and black was immediately in his arms before he could even begin to truly worry and he sighed, patting his hair. Then, he decided that he should say something, and he reached down to cup the other man’s face, who looked up. “Cless, I...”

 

A gust of wind blew by as the both of them exchanged some words with each other, and held each other in their arms for a long time. Then, the both of them soon headed to a restaurant to grab a bite to eat. By the time that was done with, the two parted ways, promising to see each other soon.

 

When he returned home, he found that the lights were off. Dhaos blinked and wondered if the children had gone to bed. His footsteps stopped in his own tracks when he noticed that his living room was an entire mess. “... Winona? Dio? Mel?”

 

The blond moved cautiously forward, before whipping out his cellphone, typing in 1-1-2, and looked around with a frown. He found a plastic bag on the floor and there was something in it that made his blood run cold along with a note left on top of it. It read, 'We know where you live. Your Equerry and little children got away this time, but who knows if they will the next time? But if you hand yourself over, they won’t need to worry about us coming after them.'

 

That night when Dhaos left the house, he didn’t return.

 


	2. Cover

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I think I remembered the real reason why I wrote this fanfic was to see if I could try writing a bit of ToP porn, like for real. That said this chapter is NSFW, so...

Cless looked outside his window as a few drops of snowflakes began to slowly float down, carried gently by the gravity, and he was one of the few who still had his desk lamp on in his room. He blinked as he gazed at his cellphone, awaiting a text back from Dhaos, although he considered that the man may have fallen asleep already since it was already practically late at night. In fact, it had just turned eleven, an hour before he knows celebrations are going alight in a certain country, for some timezones. Either way, he found that he couldn’t really get any sleep, and so he decided to text Dhaos another message.

 

It read: _Don’t mind if I just drop by?_

 

When he hadn’t received so much as anything in reply, the blond-haired male plopped back onto his bed, and looked up at the ceiling. He couldn’t wait for tomorrow, especially since there was something he had been planning on telling Dhaos ever since they got together. At the thought of ‘got together’, Cless couldn’t help but gather up his pillow and hold it close to him as a goofy smile comes across his lips. He’s been really, really lucky, hasn’t he?

 

Even though for a bit, because of him, things had gotten pretty awkward, they had really managed to prevail. God, he was such a nerd, and because of him rolling excitedly around the bed a bit, he nearly fell onto the floor.

 

...

 

Cless found himself in front of Dhaos’ house the next day, because, well, he had been given the address once in a conversation once with him. It was... pretty large, and awfully quiet, as he had expected but something about it made it rather eery. He soldiered on nonetheless, and walked to the front door to knock, only to find that the door just wound up moving a bit to open. He also found that there was a blond with short hair with their back facing him, as the rest of the house looked like it had seen better days.

 

The bouquet of roses he had brought he simply put on a counter.

 

As he expected, there was a sense of coldness within the environment, however, and noticing someone else he hadn’t expected to see here made him quietly utter, “What...?”

 

The other occupant in the room turned to face him, whose eyes were a piercing purple and hair blond as well as short, but a little longer than Cless’. Said occupant wore a brown jacket, with a black shirt, and green military pants as well as black boots... coupled with white gloves. She looked nonplussed that someone else had entered, but all the same expected it, beginning to walk towards him, saying, “Cless, you should go back home. I’ve got this handled, as this is something beyond your capability.”

 

Cless’ eyes widened a bit before he frowned and shook his head, his hands tightening into fists. “...No. There must be something that only I can do to help you.”

 

Winona sighed loudly, wishing she had remembered to lock the door, but last night’s events had been a flurry of unfortunate incidents, including the one where she had been rushed to the hospital herself as a result. She gazed down at her left hand, which was now metal, covered innocuously by one of the white gloves she wore. The younger male was still gazing at her determinedly, and she could always just knock him out, put him back in his room as if it never happened as well as lock the house.

 

But...

 

She had a feeling it might take more than that to shake him, and she didn’t want to put in all that effort for nothing. Not to mention, something was bugging her about all of this -- she had worked very hard to make sure that they couldn’t be tracked by them and yet it happened. If that happened... it meant that there was a mole.

 

Not only that but if they had that much information, then...Cless who had also been close with Dhaos was bound to be known by this mystery person. She couldn’t risk him getting taken unawares. She crosses her arms at this moment, and asked, “Alright then, come with me.”

 

She watched his expression turn from determined and tense to happy and relieved. He said, “Thank you, Winona.”

 

The blond-haired woman nodded, replying, “Your welcome, but... don’t come crying to me if you get yourself hurt.”

 

...

 

_Winona found herself watching over the two younger children who were happily playing a strategy game of some sort. She was rather pleased to know that things were going along nicely and that they had all settled into a peaceful life of sorts... despite the hell that had been in the devastated war-torn country she, Dhaos, and the two little children had been from. She was part of the secret service that made sure the blond stayed safe whilst the older royalty attempted to sort things out... hiding the heir from being assassinated was one of the most important things. As for the children..._

_They also had their own parents originally, only to find that they were without due to the kingdom’s mess, and Dhaos had took them in without a word. However, Winona’s time for dwelling on past events was cut short at the sound of knocking at the door. She raised to her feet, and got to the door... and she was so relaxed to open the door, she hadn’t expected to be staring down at the barrel of the gun._

_One moment turned into the next. One point in pain trying to hold something that wasn’t’ there, with tears in her eyes, and in another, stabbing someone with a kitchen knife. The last moment, getting the children out of dodge, to be taken elsewhere._

...

 

Cless passed Winona a slight sheepish smile and asked, “So... you want me to go through this obstacle course?”

 

Winona just simply nodded, replying, “Since what we’re doing might get you into trouble, and you don’t know how to do any magic, I’m going to need to see what you’re able to do.”

 

The blond-haired male sweatdropped, looking over at some of the things... axes swinging back and forth, coupled with a tightrope. Although, to be honest, there were some things he could do without breaking a sweat... he just didn’t expect for it to be revealed this way. Not to mention some of these look like it could kill him.

 

Noticing his reluctance, the blond-haired woman tried to smile a little bit and said, “...There’s magic in place so you won’t really get hurt, but every time you mess up badly enough that you would’ve died, you start over.”

 

Cless nodded, and then decided he should just get this over with so they could finish tracking down Dhaos. He went into a sprint, easily leaping over what appeared to be a pit of spikes, and following that, slipped by the swinging axes like it was nothing. The next part he nimbly dodged around flying knives, before dashing forward and tackling the dummy.

 

Winona watched, including up to the final part where he had to walk on the tightrope. When the blond-haired male reached the end he slipped and she had expected that.

 

What she didn’t expect was for him to grab on to the rope with a quick hand and pull himself up with the momentum to carefully put him on top again, before finishing. Then he carefully leaped down, using various objects at certain heights, before landing on his feet. She raised a brow at him and claps her hands, asking, “Cless, is there something I should know about?”

 

Cless grinned sheepishly and replied, “Well, I used to be a gymnist. I also do have some combat training under my belt from when my father used to teach me, even though I haven’t practiced too much lately.”

 

Winona nodded before she said quickly, “Think fast.”

 

The blond blinked and asked, “Huh?”

 

Soon Cless found himself holding his nose and saying, “Jeez, a little more warning if you’re going to punch me like that next time?”

 

The woman shrugged and replied, “Your next opponent isn’t going to even say anything like that, they’re going to punch you. You have good reflexes, but you just need to be on your toes a bit.”

 

Cless grumbled as she continued, saying, “Anyway...”

 

...

 

What Cless didn’t expect was for, after a few weeks, to be taken to a foreign country entirely, the last place that they sighted Dhaos within. All he could think was, Man the guy moves fast.

 

Winona took him into a nicely furnished hotel that seemed in pristine condition, just like the rest of the place. She walked into the same room as he had, while he looked everywhere, and there were a few books one of them read, ‘Katalogas’. He knew he should have picked up learning more languages... he turned to face her regardless and asked, “So... where is this place anyway?”

 

Winona answered, “Well it’s not really privy to most people and it’s located between Lithuania and Estonia. You’ll see what I mean when we get there. For now, though, we’re going to see if we can locate him here. You stay here, since you don’t know the layout and hopefully you won’t really have to do much of anything.”

 

Cless blinked and frowned starting to say, “But--”

 

The blond-haired woman shook her head, replying, “It’s better this way. It’d be easier keeping you safe at any rate..especially since we have an unknown infiltrator among us it’d be harder for them to get to you if there were others around here. Stay in this hotel, got it?”

 

The younger male was about to say something but she had been out the door before another angry word could leave his mouth. He flopped on the bed and pouted. It was unfair, he could fight for himself, and help find Dhaos. Why bring him all the way just to ‘keep him safe’? It didn’t make any sense!  


After stewing in annoyance and silence, he decided to go and take a shower. As he stood in there, he wished he had thought to at least bring his laptop with him, that’d have made the wait more bearable at the least. Even though he had his cellphone so he could keep in contact with his friends and his parents if he wanted...

 

The blond sighed, after he started the shower clothes devested, and grabbed a bar of soap before he found that it slipped from his fingers rather easily, frowning a bit. This is why he uses the liquid body soap things instead, and he reached for it, only to find that he slips in the process and his head hits the bathroom wall with a loud thud. He yelps, “Ow, CRAP!”

 

In the next moment, Cless hears the sound of footfalls rushing and people into the bathroom, yelling if everything is alright. Blushing hard he said, “Y-Yes, I just fell...”

 

He sighed, not even having complete privacy was such a bust. After finishing himself up, he watched colors run down the drain and went to look at himself in the mirror... his usual blond hair had gone back to a light brown color. Well, it could provide some pretty good cover, probably.

 

The dark-haired blond moved into his room again and went to put on a black t-shirt, and black pants. He looked outside his window, which had full view of the horizon and only a few people were, only to see that there was someone who caught his eye.

 

That long blond hair, and even though the individual was dressed in purple robes, he could tell it was Dhaos. Yet, he hadn’t seemed to have been spotted.

 

Cless knew it was time, taking a hat of his, as well as sword, and putting on black shoes. He quickly opened his window, before leaping out, landing onto a piece of the building jutting out safely enough for him to do so. He leaped towards a pole sticking out horizontally and gripped onto it when he got close enough, using the momentum to propel himself forward into a flip.

 

Successfully landing on an umbrella above a table, he leaped from there onto a lower building. He whipped out his cellphone, and then he gazed upon the man who just pulled up a purple hood, heading towards more greenery, on the outskirts of the small town. He continued to chase him down, jumping from roof to roof, until he landed behind the other man. He quickly reached out to the cloaked man, pulling on it.

 

Cless was panting and smiling when the man whipped around in surprised, looking down at the smaller blond. He saw those red eyes widen and heard him say, “No... you shouldn’t have come here.”

 

Then he felt himself become pulled along, towards more grassy area, and into the bushes with him, wondering why Dhaos was freaking out. They had everyone with him and the smaller blond even said, “Dhaos, Winona and everyone else is here. Everything’s going to be okay!”

 

Dhaos snapped quietly at him, when he suddenly stopped, “Did you even listen to her?! This was not part of the plan!”

 

Cless began to say, “But I thought--”

 

The taller man replied, interrupting him, “You thought incorrectly. We had a plan...once I had contacted her privately, I suggested using myself as bait to those who wished to utilize me for their ulterior motives. Once they convened around myself, most of them would be taken out without worry of possible outside casualties, and of course the remaining would be questioned.

 

Now that you’re here you could be caught in the line of fire. It was easier to bring you here just in case they attempted to kidnap you in order to try to gain more leverage.”

 

The smaller blond huffed and said, “But what about that guy who sold you out in the beginning? Wouldn’t he just get the surprise drop and try to mess with me then while you guys were doing your thing?”

 

A breath of silence hung between them at this point, where Dhaos just rubs his forehead, and then pinches the bridge of his nose in annoyance. “...Perhaps there is another way we can do this. You wait here in the bushes, and do not make any unnecessary movements while I make contact with them. That way no one knows where you are except me.”

 

Cless muttered, “Hey, I had a good point, why can’t you just admit it?”

 

Dhaos glaring at him made him grin sheepishly in return, before the older male sighed. Then Cless gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, revelling in the moment of making his partner blush, and hid behind a bush. He watched Dhaos hesitate, before moving out of the forest area to meet with a couple of shady-looking men who had gathered in front of a cave nearby.

 

For awhile it seemed to go well, until he saw smoke rapidly filling the scene... where they had all gathered. He heard yells and the sounds of a struggle, inspiring him to run right in, cover be damned. He just had to make sure Dhaos was okay, and found a few of the men still standing...which made the smaller blond decide to remedy that a little.

 

He snuck up behind them, whacking some in the head and tripping up some of the rest, before he found that when the smoke cleared, Winona as well as Dhaos seemed to pick out the one they wanted for their own. The tall blond turned around to face him, saying, “... Is listening truly such a difficult thing for you? Perhaps I will need to teach you it.”

 

Cless grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head, and replied thoughtlessly, “Maybe in private?”

 

Dhaos blushed slightly and said, “You...”

 

Then he just shook his head when Cless stared at him, appearing to look confused, before picking up the last one by the collar. Winona sighed and said, “You’re lucky you didn’t get hurt, you know...”

 

The dark-haired blond shrugged. “I’m just a lucky kind of person.”

 

...

 

Cless blinked as he had the towel tightly wrapped around his waist before he twirled a bit, and offered Dhaos a wink, the latter of which thought was just a bit cute. It made up for him having to... divulge in front of someone else his clothing, or be without it at least. He followed the other into the hotsprings, not surprised at all that the younger man had gone ahead with a bounce in his step. Then he leapt into the hotsprings, with Dhaos carefully stepping in, trying not to make a mess.

 

They truly were such opposites, harder to tell before and at that terrible job Dhaos remembered he was posing in, but now he had the chance to spend more time with the darker-haired blond there was more to be seen. Cless then took their moments to themselves to close the distance quickly, and hug the taller blond from behind, hands on the front of Dhaos’ bare chest. Of course, the older male didn’t mind and even quietly took one of Cless’ hands within his own to lift it briefly to his lips for a soft kiss. He asked, “...Why?

 

Cless looked confused, and asked in return, “Why what?”

 

“Why did you decide to like me...why did you go to such meaningless trouble when you could have stayed hidden in those bushes?”

 

Cless blinked at the question and rested his head against the other man’s back, or more like his hair, saying, “I guess because you didn’t give up on me, even though I did something kinda really stupid? Besides, you’re kind of my type, and were a bit cute? Anyway, I don’t really like taking the easy way out if it’s someone I like I want to help. So...”

 

Dhaos fell silent, and as a result the whole room followed due to the fact that only two of them were within. Cless knew it wasn’t a bad thing, since he could feel the other’s thumb caress the palm of the hand he was holding. For a moment, he just basked in the moment, closing his eyes, and was happy to know that this turned out for the better.

 

For now.

 

...

 

Cless looked at himself in a mirror, taking a few winks, as well as striking a few dynamic poses he thought someone could consider ‘heroic’. Either way he looked pretty presentable, thanks to the wardrobe Dhaos had insisted offering him whilst he showed him around his secret kingdom. Although... as usual the dark-haired blond opted for something relatively simple-- silk black pants and just a white sleeveless t-shirt made from cotton. He quickly came out of his room, seeing Dhaos await for him.

 

Dhaos wore a black jacket, with a yellow shirt and once again leather pants. He passed Cless a small smile, and the smaller blond quickly took his hand, running forward, making the other stumble a bit in surprise. “... You don’t need to hurry.”

 

Cless grinned as they breached the outside of the manor, saying, “But I can’t hold in my excitement! It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, right, right?”

 

“...”

 

The smaller blond took that as a yes, and the place seemed to have a bounce of strange things. Things Cless hadn’t seen before ever in his life... like floating rocks and strange waterfalls from buildings themselves. These marvels caused him to stop shortly at one point when crossing a tiny bridge, and lean over to look below at the lily pad-filled river. He felt arms wrap around his waist as a result and a voice near his ear, “Careful. It is rather easy to lose your balance when you perform an action such as leaning over.”

 

Cless smiled a bit and said, “Then it’s a good thing you’re here, right?”

 

He didn’t hear the other man say anything, but instead the grip tightened as if to affirm that, and that made the younger male decide that was enough of an answer for him. Then, he let go so that they could move along.

 

Although Cless also decided it’d be the best place to take a picture for the both of them, and held out his cellphone to snap a photo. “I’m going to call this, ‘hanging out with the cute boyfriend’ photo!”

 

Dhaos looked to the side and said, “Ironic that you say that, considering you’re the smaller and more delicate one.”

 

At this, Cless huffed, pouting a bit and said, “What?! Who’s the delicate one?! And just because you’re a titan doesn’t mean that I can’t overpower you! So rude!”

 

He saw Dhaos look back at him to smile slightly, replying, “As if you cannot handle myself saying such things...besides, it was to get back at you for that whole entire car ride.”

 

The younger blond’s expression changed from a pouty one into a sheepish-looking one. “I couldn’t help it okay? You were looking out the window and I wanted to find out if you were ticklish and you made this really funny--”

 

Dhaos’ interrupted succinctly, crossing his arms, and having a knowing expression on his face, “Thereby proving my point.”

 

Cless blushed slightly and muttered quietly, “I don’t see how that’s proving your point at all...”

 

“What was that?”

 

“I-I said that I wanted to see the small birds next! Totally!”

 

Cless then realized that didn’t make sense, and his face heated up, hearing a bit of Dhaos chuckling in the process. He nudged the taller blond hard, and began to walk ahead, with the other man following suit, saying, “...Once again, another point proven... it is you who is the adorable one.”

 

Cless whipped around, about to say something, only for his right foot to collide with a brick that just happened to be sticking out of the cobblestone ground, and he almost fell over backwards. Deciding it was best not to say anything after all, he turned back around, to keep going forwards.

 

...

 

The last place they had both hit was a restaurant known for its upscale reputation, and really, even though Cless did most of the talking, he could tell his partner was listening closely in. In fact, their date went on for hours on end, until now he found that the taller man’s cheeks were a noticeable pink from too much consummation of fine wine. He got a little worried when Dhaos’ hand was about to reach for another glass and said, “Hey... I think that’s enough. I don’t want you to get sick or anything.”

 

Dhaos stared at him and just nodded mutely, before allowing Cless to take his hand, to lead him out of there. The smaller blond found that several times along the way back to the manor they were staying within Dhaos tried to just hug him and make him stand there, except he couldn’t have any of that. He managed to get the taller blond to the door, and even further still into his own room, only to have Dhaos wrap his arms around him again. Only this this time he had something to say: “It has been so long...since someone has been around me... like this.”

 

Cless blinked and looked up at the other man, whose eyes appeared a bit glassy due to the distortion from the drink. He said quietly in response, “Er... well...this is my first time being with anyone. So...”

 

Dhaos raised a hand and Cless raised one of his own so he could grasp the other man’s within his own... their hands then became intertwined. He asks the older man about a few things and words come looser than they would’ve if he were sober, about his noble background, his parents who still rule the land... as well as the fact that they had sent him out in an attempt for him to live a normal life while things were in turmoil. Then, at some point, Cless talks a little about himself... that he wants to become a popular singer one day, and ... ‘that is basically it’ besides being an avid video gamer.

 

He found that near the end, Dhaos’ lips had met his own for a kiss, and he welcomed the action eagerly, as he became lost in the moment, as well as his free hand moving to pinch the other man’s rear end, making the older man make a funny noise of surprise. Dhaos pulled away and frowned slightly at him, as Cless grinned right back.

 

A bell went off in the distance, signifying that it had just turned midnight, which made the smaller blond begin to pull away, saying, “Alright, I need to go to sleep...”

 

Only to find himself being pulled back towards the older blond, stumbling a bit, and beginning to ask, “Hey, what’s the big idea?!”

 

Dhaos simply started to ask in return, “... Cless, will you...have...”

 

A beat of hesitation before a sigh, and then, “... I mean, nevermind that -- I simply ask that you spend the night with me.”

 

Cless hesitated... then smiled and nodded, before tossing his shirt off like it was nobody’s business, followed by his pants. Dhaos took off his jacket and clumsily, his shirt, trying to fiddle with his pants next now that he had divulged of the rest of his clothing. The smaller blond had gone onto the bed and pulled the blankets close to him, watching the elder one having trouble. “Too intoxicated?”

 

“...”

 

The smaller blond smirked a bit, before he let himself out of the bed, hurrying over to Dhaos’ side, and saying, “I can help with that.”

 

“........”

 

Indeed, Cless did begin to help, positioning himself behind Dhaos, and his hands resting on the other man’s before moving lower before he did indeed begin to graciously ‘help’ the older man. He listened to the taller male’s voice hitch as his pants fell to his feet, and Cless asked, “Is that... better?”

 

“I--”

 

Dhaos was about to say something, but then Cless’ hands were suddenly really distracting him and he moaned out an affirmative. Before he realized it, they had moved to the bed, and the boxers were almost completely off, down at his ankles as Cless continues to give the older blond man what he wanted at the moment. From this position he couldn’t see Dhaos’ face, but could see the way his fingers tightly clutched the sheets, and it did give him an easier way to prepare him from the angle. With the proper lube, of course.

 

Cless also did note that from the back once again the man’s blond hair was magnificently long enough to make him wonder how he kept it so beautiful.

 

Cless’ other hand was easily keeping the other blond busy, while his left hand was making sure he was ready -- up until he heard the man cry out in pleasure from underneath him. The taller blond then moved, when Cless drew away his fingers, making sure his back was against the sheets so he could face the younger man.

 

The moments passed by enough after Cless made his movements, slowly meshing into the other blond, and taking his time, until he could move as he wished, listening to the sounds of pleasure from the one underneath him. His hand moves to grip Dhaos at the same time, making the older blond’s eyes tear a bit from the double pleasure.

 

Cless leaned forward to kiss his chest and mutter, “I hope you enjoy this, Dhaos.”

 

Afterwards, the long haired blond brought Cless closer to him, and the smaller blond snuggled up against him. The few hours passed as a weight in Cless’ chest began to rise, and he considered telling Dhaos, but he didn’t know if he could. So, instead he lie there awake, until he heard Dhaos ask, “What is amiss?”

 

Cless murmured, saying, “Nothing...”

 

He heard the older man shift and this made him look up as tears begin to edge out his eyes, making his already-flimsy argument invalid. Dhaos frowned, looking a bit worried. “... Did I make you feel you had to do something you shouldn’t have had to?”

 

The smaller blond looked down and felt his face glow with humiliation. “I...I just don’t want this to end. Nothing has ever been like this, for me.”

 

Dhaos said quietly, “So, we are the same, hm? There is no shame in feeling such a way, I can tell you that now.”

Then, as Dhaos kisses the top of Cless’ head, the latter thinks that maybe things will be okay.

 

...

 

Winona frowned as she reviewed every interrogation session... sure she had found out a lot of information about the group behind trying to get at the prince, but at the same time, nothing about who else could’ve tipped them off. She had indeed found one, but she was sure that in an organization like this, there had to be another, or maybe there was something about this whole situation she had been missing. At the very least she concluded that one of those involved had to have been around Dhaos long enough to know it was him and at the same time starting around the time she had begun switching companies... as well as new people having come in.

 

She input information from the cameras and began to call in reports on them, although one of them was concerning. But if it were true, then...

 

The blond-haired woman sighed in frustration, wondering why exactly things had to be like this.

 

...

 

The short haired blond checked out a certain someone’s room, noticing that there was a ton of sketchbooks along with a lot of diaries piled up on a desk.  However, nothing was written in the journals, and almost nothing she could see drawn except for a red line through each page. That is, until on the last page of one book that seemed to feature a blue-haired man, pink-haired short woman she recognized as Arche, a blond-haired woman, a certain dark-haired blond young man, and... Dhaos.

 

“...So, you have found it.”

 

Winona turned at the voice to see the long haired blond woman standing in the doorway, staring at her. The shorter haired blond swallowed, saying, “I don’t want to fight you.”

 

Mint said simply, “I don’t want to fight you either.”

 

Then, the taller woman looked to over at the desk, which made Winona follow the desk to see that there is a bottle of something as well there. She hears Mint says, “I don’t know what’s going on with Cless... but Chester told me a long time ago something happened and he got with people who weren’t too great. Ah... but, he’s trying to get everything back in order and leave them. So please, don’t be too hard on him.”

 

Winona sighed, and picked up a bottle that listed a medicine that was extremely good for emotional suppressing. Then asked, “Boys, what would they do without us?”

 

Mint replied, “Ah... I’m not quite sure.”

 

...

 

Cless nudged a sleepy Dhaos into the bathroom with him, saying, “Come on, you’re going to someday help govern lands, I doubt they’re going to let you sleep until the afternoon.”

 

Grumpily, Dhaos muttered something under his breath that made the younger blond smile softly, before he got the shower head turned on and sprayed at the taller male with it. He thought the reaction he got out of it was worth him being glared at for the next four and a half hours into the day. It probably didn’t help that whenever Cless noticed he’d snicker or something to that effect, although at one point he found himself realizing he had to return soon. At the very least since he sorta needs to work on those dreams... or maybe he could just not worry about anything and live here as well as work on that dream. It was a nice place, right? 

 

 

He'd have to ask Dhaos later, but for now the two of them headed out of the manor, only to see a certain short-haired blond woman standing outside to wait for them.

  
She said, looking at Cless, “We need to talk.”


	3. Accord

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wow that was a hella lot shorter than I intended for it to be, but I didn't know how to end it. Sorry if it's lame.  
> 

Winona began to lead the short-haired blond away from Dhaos, who just smiled nervously, thinking that the woman was going to give him the riot act about dating her friend. Or whatever friends do for others who start dating them...so he just tried to remain cool, even if he felt like he was going to get judged. However, what he thought, or assumed, could be the furthest from the truth.

 

The woman had lead him into another building after asking for some private time with Cless to Dhaos, who had simply given his consent and decided to wander on his own.

 

The building hadn’t been used too often, and finally at this turn, Cless became a little suspicious, but he didn’t know what she had intended. He simply watched the blond, before she turned and addressed him, saying, “You don’t have to hide it anymore.”

 

Brown eyes widened as a coldness settled over Cless, and he asked, “W...What do you mean?”

 

Winona said simply, “Your involvement with ‘that’ group.”

 

Cless began to tremble, and his brown eyes were still wide, before looking guitily to the side. “So... you know. It’s my fault for everything that’s happened to you...and Dhaos...It’s all my fault...”

 

Before the woman could say anything, the short-haired blond’s hand went to his blade, and in that moment, Winona knew she needed to act. She managed to quickly tackle him to the ground and forced his hands above his head. She said, “Stop it! I brought you here to sort out everything.”

 

The blond haired male stared at her as he trembled. “I’m not sure if you should bother ...”

 

Winona frowned and said, “I’ve heard your story. It’s not what you think.”

 

The brown-eyed male’s expression changed to one of confusion. “What...what do you mean?”

 

She asked softly, “What happened as a result wasn’t because you were assigned a mission by them, right? You had already left them before you and Dhaos even crossed paths. It was only because you associated with them that they knew where he was in the first place, since they were keeping tabs on you.”

 

Cless smiled slightly as he asked, “That sounds like a very naive thing to think, doesn’t it?”

 

“ _ Cless _ .”

 

“S-Sorry... that was mean.”

 

Winona sighed, but then he replied, “You’re right, but I... if I were more careful neither of you would have been hurt, from those associations I had back then. Who, I guess, also happened to be looking for Dhaos.”

 

Winona shook her head. “It was only a matter of time, and I’m glad he found you. The loss of my hand was a small price to pay and now he can have help watching both Dio and Mel with you there.”

 

Cless smiled slightly and Winona passed him a smile too. “See? It wasn’t so bad.”

 

The short-haired blond male said, “There’s a ‘but’ in there somewhere... though. Right?”

 

She crossed her arms and replied, “I need your help in tracking down their base of operations. You would know, wouldn’t you?”

 

Brown eyes gazed at her, pensive. “I... um. Yeah.”

 

Winona nodded her head. “Alright, we’ll leave it for later. Let’s get back to Dhaos, then.”

 

Cless nodded and passed a nervous smile, before watching her move ahead. She stopped and looked back at the blond male, who fidgeted. “What’s wrong?”

 

The blond looked surprised and then shook his head. “I thought... I thought there was a catch, that’s all.”

 

Quickly, he hurried along and Winona couldn’t help but smile a little.

 

...

 

Cless’ eyes widened. “Meet your parents?”

 

Dhaos nodded with a soft smile, looking at the beautifully shocked expression of his lover. It was certainly priceless... like everything Cless seemed to do, truly. He then decided to shift closer, wrapping his arms around the smaller male, who leaned upwards to kiss his cheek. “Are you sure it’ll be okay, Dhaos? Now that I think about it, you’re... well. You’re going to be leading this kingdom and...”

 

The long-haired blond replied simply, “The issue of an heir is no longer in their hands. Besides, if they are so desperate, perhaps the children I protected can serve as a substitute for that matter.”

 

Cless laughed a little and said, “You know, I never thought you the type for a rebellious prince. It’s kinda cute...”

 

Dhaos scoffed and kissed Cless’ forehead, replying, “Hardly ‘cute’. I am simply being reasonable.”

 

“Okay then. Reasonably adorable!”

 

“...Quiet, you.”

 

...

 

Cless’ eyes shyly laid upon Dhaos’ parents, who sat before him in adorned golden seats, and by his side stood Dhaos, of course. “Mother... father, I had not the chance to properly introduce you to him, but his name is Cless Alvein.”

 

His mother inquired, “A close friend of yours?”

 

His father said, “He looks like a fine comrade.”

 

Dhaos said simply, but severely, “His is my friend and my life-long romantic partner.”

 

The king and queen looked at each other, before looking back at Cless. Then, the woman said, frowning, “... You are sure it is him you wish to be with, then.”

 

The prince shifted a little and then gripped Cless’ hand, which reached for his own.

 

Then, his father said, “Very well. If that is your choice, then... I only have a few words to impart to you. First of all, if you break his heart, you will know no other pain than the judgment of the afterlife soon after. Second of all, if you are to date my son, you must be ready to marry him immediately, without single delay. You are also responsible for assisting him in governing the kingdom when he passes.

 

If you fail in either of these, even if we are dead, we will find a way to make you regret it.”

 

The queen nodded her head solemnly. “Plus, I believe you both do require to use pro--”

 

Dhaos quickly interceded, face completely pink, “... Mother, father, please. You are embarrassing me.”

 

Then his mother said, “Oh no, we’re not embarrassing you yet. I haven’t even showed you--”

 

“T-that is fine, t-truly, it is not even required...”

 

The long-haired blond man rose a hand to try to hide his face as it glowed extremely even more pink than it had been before, and Cless snickered. Dhaos made an allowance to peek through fingers to pass his significant other a glare, who whistled innocently in return.

 

His father raised a brow. “... So you two have already...”

 

Dhaos just felt like hiding in a hole right now. He has never truly been so embarrassed in his life before, especially when Cless answered in the affirmative.  _ Yes, thank you for informing them of everything, Cless... although it wasn’t as if they would not figure it out sometime. _

 

The queen declared, “Then that marriage ceremony has to be done post-haste! Get everyone ready.”

 

...

 

Dhaos sighed as he fell against his bed, with Cless beside him with a smile. “Looks like everyhing went alright.”

 

The long-haired blond replied, “You say that now, but once they attempt to help with picking out clothing, you will revise that statement. That aside, how did your talk with Winona go?”

 

Cless swallowed thickly and then said, “Look, there’s something I need to tell you...”

 

Dhaos’ eyes flickered over to his partner, whose eyes were downcast, and sat up. He reached over to Cless’ hands, gathering them within his own, and noticed those brown eyes look up into his own. There was slightly less anxiety there now, but there was still a generous amount remaining... regardless he informed Dhaos of his own past association with ‘that’ group, and at the end he wasn’t surprised to see the shocked look on his face. He wasn’t surprised either when the older man let go of his hands, and Cless moved to get up, only to be intercepted by Dhaos.

 

The long-haired blond then said simply, “You would think I’d simply just let you leave, after what you had just told me?”

 

Cless froze, and he stammered, only to find his words that failed to spill out incoherently were interrupted by a kiss against his lips. Dhaos pulled away and continued, “I could not in good conscience let you believe that I would be angry or distraught with you for actions or a situation out of your own control. Besides...”

 

The taller man leaned in more, making Cless fall back against the bed, and then the older man climb on top of him so can once again close that distance and press his lips against his neck, making the smaller male shiver as hands ran over his body. One hand reached lower to grip him as Dhaos said, “You do not belong with them anymore, or to anyone else -- you are my beloved and we are free of anyone’s claim. It is in the past, and if we encounter them again, we will have the upper hand.”

 

Cless moaned weakly, “Y-yes... o-oh...”

  
Dhaos smirked a bit at how receptive Cless was to his touch, and realized he was enjoying the turn of tables in this situation. As he leaned in for another kiss, however, he also noticed Cless was giving a smile, and heard those special words usually uttered to loved ones, which was more than what he could’ve asked for.


End file.
